An electric motor is known in the art, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-93880. The electric motor has a cylindrical motor casing, a stator core accommodated in the motor casing, a first plate member, a second plate member and a control circuit board. The first plate member, which is a part of the electric motor, is provided at a lower end of the electric motor for closing a lower side of the motor casing and rotatably supports a lower end of a rotating shaft. The second plate member, which is also a part of the electric motor, closes an upper side of the motor casing. Multiple coil terminals extending from stator coils wound on the stator core are inserted into respective through-holes formed in the second plate member, so that each of forward end of the coil terminals is electrically connected to the control circuit board provided at an upper side of the second plate member. In the electric motor, extraneous material may enter an inside of the electric motor formed between the first plate member and the second plate member and accommodating the stator core.
The electric motor of the above prior art has grommets for supporting the coil terminals, wherein each of the grommets is inserted into each of the through-holes formed in the second plate member so as to prevent the extraneous material from entering the inside of the electric motor. The grommet has a terminal holding hole, through which the coil terminal of the stator coil is inserted, and a flanged portion formed at a lower end thereof.
In a manufacturing process for assembling the grommet to the electric motor, the lower end of the grommet having the flanged portion is directed to the stator coil and the coil terminal of the stator coil is inserted into the terminal holding hole of the grommet, in a condition that the first plate member is fixed to the lower end of the motor casing and the stator coil is accommodated in the motor casing. Thereafter, the second plate member is fixed to an upper end of the motor casing. As a result, the grommet is fixed to the second plate member in a condition that the grommet is interposed between the stator coil and the second plate member and the flanged portion of the grommet is in contact with a lower side surface of the second plate member (that is, an axial end surface of the second plate member facing the stator coil).
As above, when the second plate member is fixed to the upper end of the motor casing, the grommet is surrounded by the second plate member and the motor casing. Therefore, it becomes difficult to check whether the grommet is correctly assembled to the second plate member during the manufacturing process of the electric motor, in particular, during a process for assembling the second plate member to the motor casing.